September/October 2013

From the unsettling threat of hunger strikes to the problem with anti-bullying rhetoric, this issue is brimming with testy content. The battle for Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, Rosa Luxemburg in the 21st century, letters from survivors of sexual violence, farmers vs. Monsanto, a firsthand account of the Sixties Scoop — and more!

What does it mean for Guantanamo Bay prisoners to assert their essential human dignity, and to seek justice, by choosing to starve? From freedom fighters under the British Raj to Chief Theresa Spence and the detainees of Guantanamo, physician Baijayanta Mukhopadhyay explores the insistent threat of the hunger strike.

She has long been honoured as a revolutionary martyr, but can her theories about capitalism and working-class organization guide us today? In a time of austerity and flaring social unrest, Ingo Schmidt reveals Luxemburg’s key insights for understanding our world – and organizing for a better one.

Canadian farmers have successfully blocked genetically modified flax, wheat, and pigs. Now the fight is on to keep out Monsanto alfalfa. It’s a fight farmers and their consumer allies can win, writes Cathy Holtslander.

The term “bullying” obscures the dynamics of gendered violence in cases like Rehtaeh Parsons’ and Amanda Todd’s. The vague language of anti-bullying campaigns and legislation do little to address systemic misogyny and rape culture.